Raut said a Congress-AAP alliance would have crushed the BJP in Delhi assembly polls, as counting trends show the Arvind Kejriwal-led party losing many seats amid the saffron surge.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday announced its second list of 20 candidates for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls, fielding senior party leader Manish Sisodia from the Jangpura seat.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which continued hearing on the Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest for the consecutive day, posed several queries to Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, and sought his reply on Friday.
Whether AAP bounces back or fades into political oblivion will depend on its strategy in the coming months.
As Delhi assembly results were declared on Saturday, here is a look at how prominent leaders fared.
If Kejriwal is arrested, it will take very little for Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to summon a meeting of the assembly, direct it to elect a new leader of the House, and, if it doesn't, dissolve it and impose President's Rule, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
Kharge's outreach is part of the Congress' efforts to bring several like-minded parties together on a common platform in their fight against the BJP.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia holds as many as 18 of the total 33 departments, including education, finance and home.
The two leaders are "deeply involved in corruption" and should be dealt with accordingly, Congress leader Ajay Maken said.
Opposition leaders in Punjab have claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls signals the beginning of its downfall in the state as well. They cited the party's inability to deliver on promises and allegations of corruption as reasons for the setback in Delhi and predicted a similar fate for the AAP in Punjab, where it is currently in power.
The agency has booked Sisodia, a 1992-batch IRS officer Sukesh Kumar Jain who was then secretary of vigilance, retired CISF DIG Rakesh Kumar Sinha who was working as special advisor to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and joint director in the Feedback Unit, they said.
Congress does unto AAP what Kejriwal's party had done to it in Haryana.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party remained tight-lipped about whether the chief minister will appear before the Enforcement Directorate or not.
The Sena chief said he had to honour "yuti dharma".
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, that the hearing on Kejriwal's plea against arrest is likely to take time and therefore, the court was considering hearing the probe agency on interim bail to him.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged the BJP-led central government wanted to arrest him and prevent from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, saying the ED summons issued to him was aimed at hurting his "biggest asset", honesty, and defaming him..
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday skipped the third summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case and cited Rajya Sabha polls, Republic Day preparations and the probe agency's 'non-disclosure and non-response approach' as reasons for not appearing before it.
Referring to Abdullah's comments, Saamana claimed that Congress actively contributed to AAP's defeat in at least 14 seats in Delhi, which could have been avoided.
A day after accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of "hatching a conspiracy to assassinate" Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, fearing poll defeats in Gujarat and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, his deputy Manish Sisodia Friday demanded a probe into it and said a complaint will also be submitted to the Election Commission.
The BJP welcomed the CBI move, claiming that it had been saying all along that Kejriwal was the 'mastermind of the liquor scam'.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday said it will hold a "referendum" in Delhi and other parts of the country on whether Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should resign if he is arrested by the Enforcement Directorate or continue to run the government from jail.
Kejriwal also said such threats by Sarma are unbecoming of a chief minister. Sarma had on Friday threatened to file a defamation case against Kejriwal if the AAP leader alleged corruption cases against him outside the assembly.
Ahead of the crucial INDIA alliance meeting in Mumbai, AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar Wednesday pitched for Arvind Kejriwal as the opposition bloc's prime ministerial candidate but party colleagues Atishi and Sanjay Singh hastened to deny that the Delhi chief minister had such aspirations.
In the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) went all out to persuade voters to elect an effective and accountable government for the progress of the national capital, contributing to the BJP's thumping victory in the polls, according to sources.
President Droupadi Murmu has approved the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools. The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms at an inflated cost, according to a report by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government. The ACB report alleged that the classrooms were constructed at a rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas the average construction cost was around Rs 1,500 per square feet. The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Kejriwal (55) has been issued the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and according to the sources, the agency will record his statement once he deposes before the investigating officer of the case in Delhi.
Many were so disillusioned with AAP that they left it in droves. A 10% drop in AAP's vote share is a pointer to that. To assume that if AAP had teamed up with the Congress, the Congress' 6.3% vote share would have helped AAP retain control of Delhi is erroneous, argues Sudhir Bisht.
Yogendra Yadav, a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), believes the party's defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls is a setback for the entire opposition and raises questions about its future. He attributed the loss to factors like the liquor scam, the 'Sheesh Mahal' row, and the constant fights between the Delhi LG and the AAP government.
The ruling Aam Admi Party in Delhi rejected the allegation of any wrongdoing and accused the BJP of "using all its power to finish AAP".
BJP says Sinha has found a new ally in the Congress.
Kejriwal batted for positive politics in the country to ensure that India becomes number one country in the world
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in a case linked to the now scrapped Delhi excise policy and wrote to the central agency demanding the "recall" of its summons to him, calling it "vague, motivated and unsustainable in law".
Officials said the agency may ask the chief minister about the policy formulation process especially of the "untraceable" file which was earlier slated to be put before the Council of Ministers.
In a blistering attack on the BJP, Kejriwal on Friday alleged that the opposition party's 'Operation Lotus' to topple his government failed as it could not poach any of the AAP MLAs.
The six constituencies of northeast Delhi affected by the 2020 riots saw a close contest between the BJP and AAP, with both parties winning three seats each. AAP's Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad won Seelampur by a margin of 42,477 votes, defeating BJP's Anil Kumar Sharma. AAP also won Babarpur and Gokalpur, while the BJP won Mustafabad, Karawal Nagar and Ghonda.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asked him around 56 questions on the excise policy case and that he answered them all.
Aam Aadmi Party MLA Mukesh Ahlawat will be the new face in the Delhi cabinet headed by Atishi, who will be sworn in as chief minister on September 21, and four ministers will be retained, the party said on Thursday.
Describing the AAP's newly-acquired status of a national party in a short span of 10 years as a "miraculous and incredible" achievement, Kejriwal said it brings with it a huge responsibility as well.
While all the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs present in the House voted in favour of the motion as expected, there was no vote against it due to the absence of BJP legislators.
Kejriwal said he and the Aam Aadmi Party are "hardcore honest".
